Of course, if we were to talk about the evolution of religion, it would be reasonable to acknowledge versions of Islam that have effectively made polygamy extremely difficult - certainly far more difficult than the exigencies allowed for in that article. Both ancient Jewish society and ancient Arab society were male-dominated societies. In those societies, male right to divorce (and it was always a male right to divorce) was detrimental to the livelihood of women. Islam actually restricts that right of divorce, making it more difficult. It also gives women the right to divorce. Christianity restricted the male right to divorce even farther, of course, barring divorce entirely. In my view, both religions took the same track to deal with the same social issue. Of course, both religions dealt with the social conditions that existed at the time. Polygamy was common in the Arab world, so the Qu'ran restricts but doesn't prohibit it. In the Roman Empire (particularly first century Palestine), polygamy wasn't an issue. Therefore, the issues are focused on ensuring the livelihood of women (protecting them from the "hard hearts" of men, as Jesus put it). The response was to ban divorce entirely.
